April 25, 2014 – Washington, DC - Following testimony yesterday by Disability Rights International (DRI) and several other advocacy organizations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on neurological devices has recommended a federal ban on electrical shock devices used to punish and control the behavior of children with disabilities– a practice condemned by the United Nations to be torture under international law.

Washington, DC – April 23, 2013 - Today the US National Council on Disabilities (NCD) held a public hearing on US ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  NCD invited Eric Rosenthal of Disability Rights International to testify about actions that NCD and the US Government can take to advance ratification and implementation of the CRPD. Read DRI's testimony here.

Washington, DC – March 5, 2013 - Juan Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council yesterday in Geneva holding governments around the world accountable for violations of the UN Convention Against Torture. The report cited the United States, calling on the federal government to bring an end to the use of electric skin shocks and restraint at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts.

Disability Rights International (DRI) has played a leading role in pushing for US ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) through its work with the US International Council on Disabilities (USICD), a coalition of US-based organizations, federal agencies and individuals committed to advocacy and action on behalf of the global disability rights age

Washington, DC-- A scathing article concerning the abuses against children with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) was published Saturday by the Guardian of London. Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, told the Guardian he is "very concerned," about the use of electric shocks as aversive treatment on children with disabilities at JRC.